Secretary Haaland Spotlights Infrastructure Investments in Everglades Restoration During South Florida Visit

Date: Monday, January 30, 2023
Contact: Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov

MIAMI — Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz wrapped up a multi-day visit to South Florida today. Their tour highlighted the Interior Department’s commitment to the collaborative protection and restoration of the Everglades. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law delivers the largest single investment in the Everglades in U.S. history. Together with the Inflation Reduction Act, these are once-in-a-generation resources for the conservation and stewardship of America’s public lands and waters and to tackle the climate crisis.

In the past two years, the Biden-Harris administration has allocated a record $2 billion for Everglades restoration through both the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and historic presidential budget requests. These cross-agency investments include resources for wildlife crossings, fish passage, ecosystem restoration, clean water and natural resilience. Everglades restoration is a model of collaborative conservation consistent with President Biden’s America the Beautiful initiative, a challenge to pursue a locally led and voluntary, nationwide effort to conserve, connect, and restore the lands, waters, and wildlife upon which we all depend.

The leaders traveled to Everglades National Park to survey how Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding is helping accelerate the pace and magnitude of critical restoration projects. A tour through Shark Valley highlighted the river’s critical role in providing habitat for a variety of wildlife species and the impact that the climate crisis is having on the park and its inhabitants.

Secretary Haaland and Assistant Secretary Estenoz also viewed Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge and visited Big Cypress National Preserve. They received a briefing on the challenges and opportunities facing the region, including the impacts of recreational activities on the area. They later visited the newly renovated Guy Bradley Visitor Center to examine new investments from the Great American Outdoors Act to upgrade critical park infrastructure and increase climate resiliency and visitor safety. They also met with conservation leaders and state and local stakeholders in Florida Bay to discuss the importance of collaborative partnerships for the success of the Everglades and discuss impacts of climate change on critical infrastructure.

During her visit to South Florida, Secretary Haaland met with leaders from the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Miccosukee Tribe to underscore the Interior Department’s commitment to strengthening Tribal sovereignty, honoring the government-to-government relationship, incorporating Indigenous Knowledge in the Department’s decision making, and investing in Tribal climate resilience.

The Biden-Harris administration is committed to tackling the climate crisis with the urgency that science demands. Through investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, the Administration is building a new clean energy economy, creating good-paying, union jobs and cutting the pollution that is fueling the climate crisis and driving environmental injustice.

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